Soluble coffee with aroma recovered from the thermal hydrolysis of spent grounds

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a process to recover beneficial coffee volatiles such as diacetyl and acetaldehyde from an aroma stream generated by the thermal hydrolysis of spent grounds. The aroma stream is passed over a bed of a non-polar microporous adsorbent and effluent is collected until breakthrough of furfural is detected. The invention also relates to the composition of the recovered/purified coffee aroma and to soluble coffee products containing the coffee aroma.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 339,290, filed Apr. 17, 1989now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,575.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the area, of coffee processing,specifically to the recovery and separation of a beneficial coffeeflavor rich in diacetyl and acetaldehyde from an aroma containing streamresulting from the thermal hydrolysis of spent grounds.

BACKGROUND ART

The coffee art has over the years strived to capture and separatebeneficial coffee aromas and flavors generated during coffee processing.Examples of these aromas include steam aromas, grinder gas aromas, etc.Simultaneously the coffee art has strived to maximize yield in solublecoffee processing by various methods. Initially temperatures andpressures within one or more columns of conventional percolation trainswere raised to increase yields. Thereafter the spent grounds weresubjected to additional processing conditions such as alkali, acid orhigh temperature treatments to generate further soluble solids yield.However the instant coffees which result from such high yield processestend to possess a somewhat harsh, aroma deficient character. There is aneed in the art to devise a coffee process which simultaneouslygenerates a high soluble solids yield from roasted and ground andprovides a high quality source of beneficial coffee flavor.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention involves a process for the recovery of flavorcomponents containing desirable coffee aromas such as diacetyl andacetaldehyde from an aroma stream generated by the thermal hydrolysis ofa partially extracted roasted and ground coffee. The process comprisespassing the aroma stream over a bed of non-polar microporous adsorbentwhich is either a resin or activated carbon and collecting the effluentuntil breakthrough of furfural occurs. The effluent may be added as isto a coffee product or it may be subject to further fractionation beforebeing added to a coffee product. The invention also describes the uniquearoma product which contains greater than 50% acetaldehyde and from 0.2%to 12% diacetyl based upon the total aromatics and describes novelsoluble coffee products containing the aroma.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a process which purifies an aroma streamwhich is generated by the thermal hydrolysis of a partially extractedroasted and ground coffee. The aroma stream which is purified may beproduced by any high temperature relatively short time reaction of spentcoffee grounds which produces coffee volatiles which can includeMaillard and browning reactions. A preferred process for generating thearoma stream is disclosed in a commonly-assigned patent application Ser.No. 244,205 filed Sept. 4, 1988 which is entitled A Process ForHydrolyzing A Partially Extracted Roasted And Ground Coffee which isherein incorporated by reference. As is stated in the referencedapplication, the preferred partially extracted roasted and ground coffeeis one which has been subjected to atmospheric extraction and has had amajority of the arabinogalactan extracted therefrom prior to beingthermally hydrolyzed. The thermal hydrolysis conditions can be brieflydescribed as follows: a slurry of from 2% to 75% solids is subjected totemperatures of from about 200° C. to about 260° C. for a period of timeranging from about 1 minutes to about 15 minutes in a reactor,preferably a tubular plug flow reactor. The aroma stream from thisspecific process exits the plug flow reactor as a flash condensate. Theflash condensate contains significant amounts of desirable coffee aromasbut this aroma source cannot be used without purification/separation dueto an intense off-flavor (termed "thermal" as discussed herein). Theflash condensate contains signficiant amounts of diacetyl and otherlight compounds such as acetaldehyde, IBA (2-methyl propanal), IVA(3-methyl butanal), 2-3 pentanedione, etc. The condensate also containsa strong undesirable note which is believed to be attributable to thepresence of N-Heterocyclic compounds. In the commercial application ofthis purification/separation treatment it is desirable to reduce thevolume of the condensate aroma stream. It is therefore preferred toconcentrate this specific aroma stream 10 to 40 fold such as may beaccomplished by using a still or evaporator to achieve an aromaconcentration in the range of from 10,000 to 40,000 ppm.

After the aroma stream has been collected and optionally concentrated,the stream is passed over a bed of a non-polar microporous adsorbent.Preferred adsorbents are non-polar resins with the polymers of styreneand divinyl benzene being the most preferred resins. Also preferred asan adsorbent are activated carbons possessing the followingcharacteristics: high surface area and large pore volume as per 12×40mesh size, 1,000-1,100 m² /g surface area, 0.90 cc/g pore volume and apore diameter within the range of from 10 to 1,000 Å. The resin shouldpossess a surface area within the range of from 800 to 1,000 m² /g and apore diameter within the range of from 20 to 150 Å. Selection of aspecific adsorbent meeting the above criteria depends upon parameterssuch as processing rate, material balance, i.e., resins with largersurface area have more capacity for adsorption and as a result higherpercentages of diacetyl and acetaldehyde are recoverable beforebreakthrough of furfural occurs.

The adsorbent bed may be arranged in numerous ways as may be apparent toone skilled in the art. The preferred method is to pack the adsorbentinto a column. Prior to passing the aroma stream through the column theadsorbent is backwashed with water to eliminate any air bubbles presentwithin the column. The effluent is collected up to the time thatbreakthrough of furfural takes place. It may be preferred to discard thefirst 1 to 3 bed weight portions of the effluent because this representsprimarily water. Breakthrough can be determined by isolating theeffluent coming off the column and subjecting the effluent to chemicalanalysis to determine the presence of furfural. As an alternative it ispossible to monitor the odor of the effluent. The effluent will progressthrough distinct periods where the odor proceeds from a fruity/wineycharacter to a buttery character and finally to an intense off-flavorwhich is termed "thermal" character which is defined as an objectionablegreen, musty, dill-like, cereal-like, non-coffee character. The effluentis collected until the "thermal" character is detected. Afterbreakthrough, typically all liquid in the column is drained from thecolumn and discarded or recycled. The adsorbent is then backwashed andregenerated by methods familiar to those skilled in the art.

The effluent containing the diacetyl and acetaldehyde is useful as aflavor/aroma enhancer. Typically the finished aroma will contain totalaromatics of greater than 200 ppm, preferably in the range of from 2,000to 12,000 ppm depending upon the concentration of the feed, the latterrange corresponds to a 20 to 30% recovery of total aromatics from thestarting aroma stream (preferably the flash condensate from thermalhydrolysis of spent grounds). Of the total aromatics present in theeffluent, acetaldehyde is the major component making up greater than 50%of the aromatics, typically from 60 to 90%. The effluent also contains asignificant quantity of diacetyl, typically within the range of from0.2% to 12.0% of the total aromatics, preferably from 2.5% to 7.5%. Theremainder of the aromatics include compounds such as acetone, IBA, IVA,2,3-pentanedione and may contain a small amount of furfural. Thefinished aroma, product will contain a combined amount of acetaldehydeand diacetyl which represent greater than 51% of the total aromatics((acetaldehyde+diacetyl)/total aromatics), preferably greater than61.0%. Additionally the combination of acetaldehyde and diacetylcompared to the amount of IVA ((acetaldehyde+diacetyl)/IVA) is greaterthan 25, preferably from 125 to 1,000. The ratio of acetaldehyde to IVA(acetaldehyde/IVA) is greater than 20 preferably from 125 to 1,000. Theratio of diacetyl to IVA (diacetyl/IVA) is greater than 2.0. The amountof acetaldehyde in the aroma product will be greater than 100 ppm,preferably greater than 1,000 ppm and the amount of diacetyl will begreater than 5 ppm, preferably greater than 50 ppm.

It is important to understand why in the characterization of thepurified aroma and soluble coffee products containing the aroma, thesignificance of the comparison ratio of the important flavorconstituents, diacetyl and acetaldehyde, to IVA is highlighted. Simplystated, these ratios show the unique aroma which heretofore has not beenable to be produced by methods known to those skilled in the art. Theseratios also shows the uniqueness of the separation which is accomplishedby the present inventive process.

Reducing sugars in coffee, such as mannose, react with a nitrogen sourcein the presence of heat (via a Maillard reaction or browning reaction)to form diketones (such as diacetyl). These diketones undergo furtherchemical reaction with amino acids (known as Strecker Degradation) toform aldehydes such as acetaldehyde, IBA, IVA, 2 Me-Butanal and othernitrogen containing aromas. Additional information on these types ofreactions can be found in Vernin, G. (editor) Chemistry of HeterocyclicFlavoring And Aroma Compounds, Ellis Horwood Ltd., England 1982 (p152-158) The present process produce a unique flavor by isolating theacetaldehyde and diacetyl from deleterious coffee volatiles to producethe novel aroma.

The effluent may be added to a coffee product or an imitationcoffee-type product as a flavor/aroma enhancer to enhance or augment afruity/winey and a buttery flavor. The effluent solution containingacetaldehyde and diacetyl could be added as is to roast and groundcoffee, brown extract or it could be added to a spray-dried orfreeze-dried instant coffee.

The utilization of this invention has its most important application tosoluble coffee processing. After the flavor is recovered, it may beadded at any convenient step in the soluble coffee process such asplating the dry soluble coffee or coffee substitute with the flavoragent in a solution followed by drying. In certain instances the flavorsolution may be added directly to a concentrated coffee extract and themixture spray-dried or freeze-dried into a soluble coffee product whichcontains the flavor agents, most prominently acetaldehyde and diacetylas an intrinsic part thereof. In such a freeze-dried or spray-driedinstant coffee, the aroma produced by the process of the presentinvention may be added as the sole aroma component or it may by added incombination with other aroma sources, i.e., grinder gas, steam aromas,aromas stripped from the concentration of coffee extract, etc. In eitherevent, the incorporation of the present aroma into an instant coffeewill yield a novel soluble coffee product possessing a level ofacetaldehyde greater than 15 ppm, preferably within the range of from 25ppm to 125 ppm, a level of diacetyl greater than 5 ppm, preferablywithin the range of from 10 ppm to 40 ppm, and an amount of totalvolatiles greater than 175 ppm preferably within the range of from 300ppm to 800 ppm. Importantly the soluble coffee product will contain acombined level of acetaldehyde and diacetyl compared to IVA((acetaldehyde+diacetyl)/IVA) of greater than 1.5, preferably from 1.75to 10 and a ratio of acetaldehyde to IVA (acetaldehyde/IVA) of greaterthan 1.0 preferably from 1.5 to 10.

In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention, the aroma isadded to an extract produced by the atmospheric extraction of roast andground coffee combined with the thermal hydrolysis of the partiallyextracted roast and ground coffee (as taught in the aforementionedcommonly-assigned patent application, Ser. No. 244,205 filed Sept. 14,1988). In this situation, the soluble coffee product which results fromthe addition of the present aroma to the soluble solids will produce aninstant coffee product (spray-dried or freeze-dried) which will containthe levels and ratios of aroma previously set forth and the coffeeproduct will additionally contain an amount of mannose and mannanoligomers of 15% or more resulting from the thermal hydrolysis of themannan fraction. Additionally, the percentage yield on a roast andground coffee, dry basis, will range from 55% to 73%, preferably from65% to 73%.

The flavor agent may also be added to roast and ground coffee to augmenta fruity/winey and a buttery flavor note.

Alternatively, the effluent may be further separated to produce apurified diacetyl or acetaldehyde which may be added as a natural flavoragent to a wide variety of food and beverage products.

The following Examples illustrate certain embodiments of the presentinvention. The Examples are not meant to limit the invention beyond whatis claimed below.

EXAMPLE 1

Three pilot plant runs were conducted to purify the aroma stream (theflash condensate) produced by thermal hydrolysis of spent coffeegrounds. The spent coffee grounds had been extracted until a 43% yield(dry basis, starting roast and ground coffee) was achieved. Inaccordance with the teachings of copending, commonly-assigned patentapplication Ser. No. 07/244,205 previously cited and discussed, thespent grounds in a 10% slurry were exposed to a temperature of 430° F.for 8 minutes in a plug flow reactor.

The flash condensate from this reaction was concentrated by 20 to30-fold and then treated by the present inventive process. Thecomposition of the concentrated flash condensate is shown in Table IIfor each of the three runs under the column entitled "Feed". Runs 1 and3 utilized a commercially available non-polar polystyrene divinylbenzeneresin (Bio-Rad SM-4) and Run 2 utilized a granular activated carbon(Calgon type CPG) as the adsorbent.

Each run was conducted in a single glass column measuring 4" in diameterby 7' high. The resin or carbon was pre-weighed and added to the columnfrom above in slurry form. The adsorbent was backwashed for one hour toelevate the fine mesh particles to the top of the bed. The bed was thenallowed to settle with the water level 6" above the adsorbent. The feedwas added to the adsorbent columns via downflow at a prescribed, flowrate. A liquid level of approximately 1 foot above the adsorbent wasmaintained throughout the run. The first 2-4 bed weights of effluentobtained during start-up were discarded as being primarily the waterhold-up within and above the adsorbent bed. Chromatographic analysisconfirmed the extremely dilute nature of this initial draw-off. Theoperating conditions are set forth in greater detail in Table I.

                  TABLE I    ______________________________________    OPERATING CONDITIONS                Run 1   Run 2      Run 3    ______________________________________    Adsorbent    Type:         Bio-Rad   Calgon     Bio-Rad                  SM-4 Resin                            CPG Carbon SM-4 Resin    Weight (lbs)  10        5          10    Mesh size:    (-20, +50)                            (-12, +40) (-20, +50)    Adsorbent Bed    Diameter (in.):                  4         4          4    Height (ft):  2.5       2.0        2.5    L/D:          7.5       6.0        7.5    Operating Temperature                  68        72         78    (°F.):    Feed Rate    (lbs/hr):     5.2       5.2        5.2    (cc/min):     39        39         39    Superficial Velocity                  0.96      0.96       0.96    (ft/hr)    Aroma Residence Time                  2.6       2.1        2.6    (hrs)    Operatine Time (hrs)                  22        30         27    Effluent Discarded    bed wts.      2         2          2    lbs.          20        10         20    Effluent Collected    bed wts.      9.5       29         12    lbs.          95        145        120    Product (based on    "breakthrough")    bed wts.      3-10      3-16       3-10    lbs.          80        70.5       80    ______________________________________

WIthin the first half-hour of resin column operation, the beginnings ofa yellow colored band appears at the top of the resin bed. This yellowband (believed to be the diacetyl fraction of the feed stream) graduallymoves down the column at a rate of approximately 2" per hour, spreadingout as it proceeds--to an ultimate band width of 6 to 8 inches by thetime it reaches the bottom of the resin bed. The movement of this bandcoincides closely with the 20 hours expended while collecting thedesirable aroma fraction before reaching breakthrough.

The breakthrough point for each run was determined by sniffing effluentaliquots, one bed weight at a time. During the course of each run,effluent character moved from "fruity" (bed weights 2-6 for resins; 4-12for carbon) to "buttery" (bed weights 7-10 for resins; bed weights 12-16for carbon) to "thermal". Breakthrough occurs when the thermal characterfirst appears, at which point useful product ceases to be collected.

Each resin run produced 80 lbs of a buttery/fruity aroma fraction. Theseproducts represented the 3 to 10 bed weight portion of the run that wascollected prior to "breakthrough". The first two bed weights (20 lbs)were discarded as they were primarly water. Breakthrough was determinedorganoleptically and later confirmed by gas chromatography.

The carbon run produced 70.5 lbs of aroma having similar character butslightly less impact. This aroma represented the 3 to 16 bed weightportion of the run (a carbon "bed weight" is equivalent to 5 lbs ofadsorbent vs. 10 lbs of resin since the latter is 50% water).

Although total organics and acetaldehyde recoveries from all three runswere similar, diacetyl recoveries varied from 25% (carbon) to 38 and 48%in the two resin runs. This can be explained by having arbitrarily taken"breakthrough" further out during the product collection than was donewith carbon.

At the conclusion of the run, all liquid was drained from the column anddiscarded. The adsorbent was backwashed and discharged from the bottomof the column in slurry form.

                                      TABLE II    __________________________________________________________________________    FEED & PRODUCT COMPOSITIONS                  Run 1    Run 2    Run 3                  Feed                      Product                           Feed                               Product                                    Run  Product    __________________________________________________________________________    Total Aromatics (ppm)                  31,200                      8,220                           38,100                               9,230                                    21,900                                         6,100    Selected Flavor Components    Acetaldehyde  8,417                      6,480                           9,737                               7,451                                    6,415                                         5,150    IBA           1,432                      21   1,669                               47   919  1    IVA           3,325                       2   3,819                               29   2,292                                         3    2-ME Butanal  1,150                       0   1,302                               0    735  1    Furan            6                       0      7                               0     3   0    2-Me Furan       6                       0      5                               0     4   0    Diacetyl        934                      449  1,203                               284  570  219    2, 3 Pentandione                    313                      10     430                               1    188  2    Furfural      8,863                      46   11,274                               4    5,954                                         8    Total Nitrogenous                    156                      25     201                               0     75  4    Compounds    Total Organics Recovery                  --   26% --   24% --    28%    Acetaldehyde Recovery                  --   77% --   76% --    80%    Diacetyl Recovery                  --   48% --   24% --    38%    __________________________________________________________________________

Analysis of feed and product samples were made by 3-detector directinject gas chromatography (all values being standardized by response of4-methyl-thiazole). The values reported in Table II for furfural in thefeed (flash condensate) would correspond to those values reported in theaforementioned commonly-assigned patent application Ser. No. 244,205filed Sept. 14, 1988 which values are a percentage of the totalaromatics present in the slurry prior to flash. Although feedconcentrations varied somewhat for each run, feed composition changedvery little (Table I). A comparison of product compositions (Table II)shows only small differences in total organics and acetaldehyderecoveries as a percentage of the feed composition, but very significantdifferences in diacetyl recoveries.

The aroma products from each run were added to coffee extract prior tospray-drying at a level of 0.07 g aroma/g coffee solids for organolepticevalution. As compared to a control instant coffee, the instant coffeewhich had incorporated therein the aroma product produced by the presentinvention was perceived by a trained taste panel to possess a smoother,buttery flavor.

EXAMPLE 2

Two separate experimental runs were conducted producing spray-driedcoffee products which were analyzed and compared to a cross section ofcommercially available spray-dried and freeze-dried soluble coffeeproducts. All runs were conducted according to the process set forth inExample 1. Run #1 utilized a resin as the adsorbent, while Run #2utilized activated carbon (See Example 1 for adsorbent details). Run #1incorporated the purified aroma as the sole aroma which was added to asoluble coffee extract at 0.07 lbs. aroma per lb. of soluble solids (oralternatively 0.117 lbs. of finished aroma was produced per lb. ofstarting roast and ground coffee). Run #2 incorporated the finishedaroma at a level of 0.052 lbs. aroma per lb. of soluble solids incombination with 0.14 lbs. of aroma per lb. soluble solids of an aromastripped from the concentration of the coffee extract (concentrationprior to spray-drying). Table III(C) contains the analytical results oftests conducted on spray-dried products incorporating the aromasproduced in Runs 1 and 2; Table III(A) contains the analytical resultsof tests conducted on commercially-available spray-dried coffee productswhile Table III(B) contains the analytical results of tests conducted oncommercially-available freeze-dried coffee products.

The volatile aroma results are obtained by using 3-detector Purge andTrap Gas Chromatography (all values being standarized by response of4-methyl-thiazole). Mannose results are obtained by hydrolyzing mannansin the soluble product to mannose by using sulfuric acid and thenanalyzing by using Dionex ion chromatography with pulse amperometricdetection.

                  TABLE III(A)    ______________________________________    COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE SPRAY DRIED    COFFEE PRODUCTS                  Agg.                  Maxwell Folger's Nescafe                  House   Crystals Classic    ______________________________________    Total volatiles (ppm)                    313       480      242    Acetaldehyde (ppm)                    15        22       8    IBA             28        34       10    IVA             30        47       15    2 ME Butanal    34        35       15    Furan           0.5       0.5      0.6    2 Me. Furan     3.2       1.4      1.1    Diacetyl        5         8        4    2,3 Pentanedione                    6         5        4    Furfural        31        103      15    Total Nitrogen Cmpds.                    9         16       17     ##STR1##       0.67      0.64     0.8     ##STR2##       0.5       0.47     0.53    Mannose (%, dry basis)                    8.53      8.26     10.92    ______________________________________

                                      TABLE III(B)    __________________________________________________________________________    COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE FREEZE DRIED COFFEE PRODUCTS                      Tasters                  Tasters                      Choice                           AGF Unser                                    Nescafe                  Choice                      Select                           Maxim                               Bester                                    Ambience    __________________________________________________________________________    Total volatiles (ppm)                  392 422  802 670  586    Acetaldehyde (ppm)                  17  20   32  20   28    IBA           22  35   45  32   44    IVA           25  36   44  44   45    2 ME Butanal  31  43   48  46   58    Furan         1.8 2.9  2.9 3    3    2 Me. Furan   3.8 4.4  6.9 6    5    Diacetyl      15  16   15  22   21    2,3 Pentanedione                  21  25   16  32   40    Furfural      42  39   65  42   44    Total Nitrogen Cmpds.                  22  10   62  35   --     ##STR3##     1.28                      1.0  1.07                               1.0  1.09     ##STR4##     0.68                      0.56 0.73                               0.45 0.62    Mannose (%, dry basis)                  11.23                      12.26                           10.90                               --   7.10    __________________________________________________________________________

                  TABLE III(C)    ______________________________________    PRESENT INVENTION    (Spray Dried)                   Run #1     Run #2    ______________________________________    Total volatiles (ppm)                     345          631    Acetaldehyde (ppm)                     80           99    IBA              15           28    IVA              10           34    2 ME Butanal     4            36    Furan            0.9          0.9    2 Me. Furan      0.6          1.0    Diacetyl         17           16    2,3 Pentanedione 2            15    Furfural         4            62    Total Nitrogen Cmpds.                     4            --     ##STR5##        9.7          3.38     ##STR6##        8.0          2.91    Mannose (%, dry basis)                     17.0         16.2    Yield (R&G, dry basis                     64.5         59.3    Flavor           All possessed a smooth, mild,                     slightly buttery character.    ______________________________________

By way of comparison, a finished aroma produced by the present inventionwas analyzed (aroma alone) and was found to contain a ratio of((acetaldehyde+diacetyl)/IVA) of 261, a ratio of (acetaldehyde/IVA) of257.5, a ratio of (diacetyl/IVA) of 3.5, a ratio ofacetaldehyde+diacetyl/total aromatics of 82%, and an acetaldehyde levelof 7,357 ppm, diacetyl level of 101 ppm and total aromatics level of9,128 ppm.

EXAMPLE 3

In a similar manner as described in Example 1 a purified aroma wasproduced according to the process of the present invention. In order tovividly point out the extremely large amount of beneficial aromas whichare produced by the present process, the aroma content of one hundredpounds of a 50% Arabica, 50% Robusta blend of a 45 roast color, roastand ground coffee was measured and after each successive treatment, theproduct was also analyzed and the results reported in Table IV below.The first column marked "R&G" sets forth the amount of the aromas (inpounds) which exist in the roast and ground coffee. Thereafter the onehundred pounds of roast and ground coffee was extracted to a yield of43% roasted and ground, dry basis. The extract was analyzed for thepresence of aroma and these numbers are reported in the second columnmarked "Extract". The spent grounds were analyzed and found to be voidof the reported aromas. Thereafter the spent grounds were thermallyhydrolyzed as set forth in Example I to produce a thermal flash whichcontained the aroma profile indicated in the fourth column marked"Thermal Flash". The next processing step involved a concentration stepwhich produced a thermal distillate which is essentially similar to thecomposition of the thermal flash when experimental error with theanalytical technique is discounted. The last step involves thepurification/separation step of passing the concentrated aroma over aresin bed to produce a purfied aroma having the composition as set forthin the last column.

                                      TABLE IV    __________________________________________________________________________               100 lbs.                       Spent                            Thermal                                 Thermal                                      Purified               R&G Extract                       Grounds                            Flash                                 Distillate                                      Aroma    __________________________________________________________________________    Total Volatiles (lbs.)               0.1560                   0.2045                       0    0.4039                                 0.3594                                      0.0835    Acetaldehyde (lbs.)               0.0025                   0.0125                       0    0.0687                                 0.0734                                      0.0442    Diacetyl (lbs.)               0.0033                   0.0055                       0    0.0138                                 0.0132                                      0.0083    IVA (lbs.) 0.0078                   0.0077                       0    0.1006                                 0.0851                                      0.0003    Furfural (lbs.)               0.0055                   0.0435                       0    0.0258                                 0.0250                                      0    __________________________________________________________________________

We claim:
 1. A soluble coffee aromatized with a collected fraction ofbeneficial natural aromas and flavors released from the thermalhydrolysis of partially extracted roasted and ground coffee, saidpartially roasted and ground coffee having been subjected to atmosphericextraction to extract a majority of the arabinogalactan therefrom, whichcomprises:25 to 125 ppm acetaldehyde, 10 to 40 ppm diacetyl, greaterthan 175 ppm total aromatics, a ratio of(acetaldehyde+diacetyl)/3-methyl butanol of 1.75 to 10 and a ratio ofacetaldehyde/3-methyl butanol of 1.5 to
 10. 2. The product of claim 1wherein the soluble coffee comprises 15% or more mannose and mannanoligomers.
 3. The product of claim 1 wherein the total aromatics rangefrom 300 to 800 ppm.